ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Prime Minister's Office
PM to chair second National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi on 6th and 7th January
Discussions to be held on six themes encompassing MSMEs, infrastructure and investments, minimising compliances, women's empowerment, health and nutrition, skill development
Three special sessions to be held on Viksit Bharat: Reaching the Last Mile, GST & Global Geopolitical Challenges and India’s Response
Conference to also witness focussed deliberations on four topics viz. Vocal for Local, International Year of Millets, G20: Role of States, and Emerging Technologies
Best practices from States and UTs under each theme to also be presented so that they can learn from each other
Outcome of three virtual conferences held prior with states and UTs to also be presented in this Conference
Agenda of the Conference decided after extensive deliberations between Centre and States/UTs in more than 150 meetings over last three months
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will chair the second National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi on 6th and 7th January, 2023. It will be another key step towards further boosting the partnership between the Centre and the State Governments. The first such Conference of Chief Secretaries was held in Dharamshala in June 2022.
This year, the National Conference of Chief Secretaries will be held from 5th to 7th January, 2023 in Delhi. The three day Conference will focus on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the States. It will witness participation of more than 200 people comprising of representatives of the Central Government, Chief Secretaries and other senior officials of all States/Union Territories and domain experts. The Conference will lay the ground for collaborative action for achieving a Viksit Bharat with a thrust on growth and job creation and inclusive human development.
The agenda of the conference has been decided after extensive deliberations in over 150 physical and virtual consultative meetings over the last three months between nodal Ministries, NITI Aayog, States/UTs and domain experts. The discussion during the Conference will be held on six identified themes viz.  Thrust on MSMEs;  Infrastructure and Investments;  Minimising Compliances;  Women's Empowerment;  Health and Nutrition;  Skill Development.
Three special sessions will also be held on  Viksit Bharat: Reaching the Last Mile;  Five Years of Goods and Services Tax  – Learnings and Experiences; and  Global Geopolitical Challenges and India’s Response.
Besides, focused deliberations would be held on four topics, viz.  Vocal for Local;  International Year of Millets;  G20: Role of States; and  Emerging Technologies.
Best practices from States/ UTs under each of the themes would also be presented at the Conference so that the States learn from each other.
As per the directions of the Prime Minister, three virtual conferences were also held with the states and UTs prior to the main conference on the themes of  Districts as Fulcrum of Development  Circular Economy;  Model UTs. The outcomes of these virtual conferences would be presented in the National Conference of Chief Secretaries.
Special Service and Features
Y20 Summit at SAI LNCPE
SAI - Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education , under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is set to host a Y20 Summit on "Leveraging Sports for Human Development Index". The panel discussion will begin at 10 AM on June 30th, 2023. Senior journalists Shri M.G. Radhakrishnan and Shri A. Vinod, along with the Former Secretary of BCCI, Shri S. Karunakaran Nair, will lead the discussions. Representatives from CRPF, BSF, Kerala State Sports Council, Directorate of Youth and Sports Affairs, Kerala, sports associations, and other eminent sportspersons will be in attendance. State Chief Information Commissioner Dr. Vishwas Mehta will be the Chief Guest at the valedictory function.
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President's Secretariat
President Hosts President of Seychelles; Says India and Seychelles Need to Work Together as Partners in Strengthening the Regional Architecture of the Indian Ocean
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, received His Excellency Mr Danny Antoine Rollen Faure, the President of the Republic of Seychelles, at Rashtrapati Bhavan today . He also hosted a banquet in his honour.
Welcoming President Danny Faure to India, the President said that India recognises the leadership role of Seychelles in Small Island Developing States , Indian Ocean Rim Association  and on climate change and maritime security issues. Seychelles has also emerged as the top African country in the Human Development Index. It has consistently figured among the top five ranking countries in Africa for overall governance. He complimented the Government of Seychelles for these extraordinary achievements.
The President said that India and Seychelles have a very special relationship, built on the foundation of mutual trust, enormous goodwill and shared values. The two countries are happy to share the same geostrategic vision of maintaining peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean. Our countries need to work together as partners in strengthening the regional architecture of the Indian Ocean.
The President said that the vast natural resources provide limitless opportunities for the growth and prosperity of our future generations. Our common goal should be to harness the full potential of the ocean based Blue Economy in sustainable manner. He stated that India is happy that Seychelles is partnering it in the International Solar Alliance initiative as a founding member. India looks forward to working with Seychelles to develop solar energy projects in Seychelles.
The President assured the President of Seychelles India’s continued commitment for extending development assistance to Seychelles in all the areas which the Government of Seychelles considers critical and of direct benefit to its people.
Subsequently, in his banquet speech, President Kovind said that close bonds of friendship between India and Seychelles have stood the test of time. For the past four decades, since the independence of Seychelles, our countries have been working together as partners in tackling common challenges, addressing critical issues, and strengthening regional and global cooperation frameworks.
The President said that India has a robust defence, security and strategic cooperation with Seychelles. India-Seychelles strategic convergence has reinforced the resolve to secure their oceanic space, in the region and beyond. India views the Indian Ocean and the Pacific as a contiguous construct sharing similar economic opportunities and security challenges. Our vision is for a free, open, peaceful, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, based on a rules-based order and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
FIVE FTII COURSES RECEIVE AICTE APPROVAL UNDER APPLIED ARTS AND CRAFTS CATEGORY
In a landmark achievement for Film and Television Institute of India  Pune, theAll India Council for Technical Education  has granted approval to five courses of FTII under AICTE's newly created APPLIED ARTS AND CRAFTS category. This approval makes India's premier film school,FTII,the first and only Institute in this category in the country to receive such recognition.
A list of Institutions and approved Courses published by AICTE on Saturday,11th May under its newly-constituted category pertaining to Institutes offering courses in applied arts,crafts and design, includes FTII and all its five one-year Post Graduate Certificate courses.
Of the five FTII courses which have received AICTE approval, four are in Television wing  and one in Film wing .
"This is a historic moment for FTII to have received AICTE approval for all five PG Certificate courses.This makes FTII the first film school in India to receive this recognition.
In recent years FTII's television courses have been in the limelight winning several National awards and even international honours. The AICTE approval lends more value to the TV courses making them as attractive as the film wing specializations. Screen writers from FTII are already making their mark in the entertainment industry. With the AICTE approval coming into effect from 2019-20, students entering TV courses and Feature Film Screenplay Writing course this year stand to gain.This is as important a watershed event as the Master's degree equivalence granted to FTII's six PG Diploma film wing courses by Association of Indian Universities  in January 2017. With this, all 11 FTII courses now stand approved by either AIU or AICTE.", said Sh Brijendra Pal Singh,Chairman, FTII Governing Council.
Ministry of Tourism
Union Minister for Tourism emphasises on giving more emphasis on adventure tourism
Kurseong; April 01, 2023
The Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region, Shri G Kishan Reddy today put special emphasis on encouraging adventure tourism in India taking advantage of the geographical conditions of the country.
While addressing the session on "Adventure Tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals" at Makaibari, Kurseong, Shri Reddy stated that India's rich geographical conditions in different States have big opportunities of encouraging adventure tourism as the country is endowed with numerous avenues to support such kind of tourism, considering the four elements of land, water, sky and hills. For this, he said, India processes 70% of the mighty Himalayas ibesides taking advantages of more than 7,000 km of coast line, seven major rivers, 70,000 km of sandy desert, 700 sanctuaries, including 16 tiger reserves.
He added, all these provide ample opportunities for variety of various adventurous activities in India.
He also said, adventure tourism in India is gaining immense popularity and enthusiasts should take advantage of this.
Welcoming the delegates, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the G-20 Chief Coordinator said, Green Tourism and Green Development is going to be the main focus in this 2nd G-20 TWG meet. This is the opportunity for all the delegates to witness how people co-exist with the nature and nurture it in a sustainable manner, Shri Shringla added. Sustainability, according to Shri Shringla, is the main focus at this time and we will carry on discuss it in all the delibrations, he said.
He said, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi stated before the assuming the G-20 Presidency that every part of the country have some uniqueness and that should be nurtured in the conventions of the G-20 so far as India's Presidency is concerned. We are actually taking that opportunity to hold the conventions in different corners of the country, taking cues from the Prime Minister, he added.
Shri Ajit Bajaj, Padma Awardee and Adventure Tourism Enthusiast said, he and his daughter are totally involved in encouraging adventure tourism in various parts of India and he himself gets involved in numerous expeditions to encourage the younger ones. Delegates of the several G-20 countries deliberated in the session.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh visits technology showcase & launches several initiatives targeted towards low carbon economy during CEM 14/MI 8 meeting in Goa
Union Minister of State  Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh visited the Technology Showcase at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa held on the sidelines of the G20 Energy Transition Ministerial Meeting  under the aegis of the 8th Mission Innovation  and 14th Clean Energy Ministerial , during July 19-22, 2023.
He interacted with the participants from the different R&D centres of Department of Science and Technology  at the exhibition.
The Technology Showcase was organized under three parts – Vehicle and Charging, Infrastructure Showcase , Mission Innovation , and Clean Tech Start-up . It featured India’s cutting-edge advances, new and emerging technologies in various sectors and provided a unique experience in clean energy, and DST showcased technologies and innovations by its R&D centres and institutes spread all over the country. The Showcase was a key element of the Clean Energy Ministerial & Mission Innovation meetings.
Dr Singh also announced several funding opportunities and grants to drive clean energy at an accelerated pace, on the day of the Ministerial meeting. These included the Funding Opportunity Announcement 2023 for RD&D in the area of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage under Mission Innovation 2.0 to undertake Joint Research & Development with member MI countries to identify and prioritize breakthrough technologies in the field of CO2 Capture, Separation, Storage, and CO2 value addition and recounted India’s progress in the area.
Besides this, he also felicitated the National Challenge Winners/grantees under the area of Clean Energy Storage & Green Hydrogen by offering them citation plaques as well as felicitated the winners of four National Challenge Grant projects on High-efficiency PV cells and modules to address the most urgent innovation priority identified under Green Powered Future Mission.
Elaborating on India’s efforts while addressing the CEM 14/MI 8 joint Ministerial, Dr Singh said “For hydrogen, we are in the advanced stage of initiating small-scale Hydrogen Valley and also initiating four Indo-Danish projects. Further, we also kick start four projects of fabrication of champion devices to make efficient solar cells toward Green powered future mission. Seven R&D projects to develop novel low carbon jet fuel will also be supported and an indigenous 2G ethanol technology developed and demonstrated at 250 kg/day pilot plant scale.”
The Union Minister also launched the Mission Innovation technology compendium, a compilation of the technologies developed through DST supported MI interventions in the area of CCUS, Hydrogen, Smart Grids, building energy efficiency, off-grids and so on to help the country transition to a low carbon economy.
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President's Secretariat
President of India Pays Homage to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his Birth Anniversary
The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, paid homage to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan today . The President and officials of Rashtrapati Bhavan paid floral tributes in front of a portrait of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The President visited Sardar Patel Chowk in New Delhi, this morning, to pay homage to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Cold Storage and Warehousing Infrastructure Facilities in Maharashtra
The Government has various schemes to strengthen cold storage and warehousing infrastructure facilities in the country, including Maharashtra.
Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure as one of the components of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana with the objective of arresting post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce and providing remunerative price to farmers for their produce. Under the scheme, 67 projects have been sanctioned for Maharashtra, out of which 33 have been completed and 34 are under implementation. A total amount of Rs.481.64 crore has been sanctioned for these projects, out of which Rs.277.11 crores has been released.
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture  for development of Horticulture in the country including Maharashtra under which financial assistance is available, inter-alia, for setting up of Post-Harvest management  infrastructure including cold storage. An amount of Rs.2123.50 lakh has been approved for 21 cold storages in Maharashtra since inception of MIDH .
Food Corporation of India  has a total capacity of 4,51,703 MT for the storage of central pool stock of foodgrains for distribution under public Distribution System in North Maharashtra .
This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Shri Nitin Gadkari says development of 25 km 2-lane Highway in Nagaland is being undertaken to bolster connectivity with neighboring states in northeast region
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari said in Nagaland, we are currently undertaking the development of a 25 KM 2-lane highway with hard shoulders, spanning from Chakabama to Zunheboto, as part of Package-3.
In a series of tweets the Minister informed the main aim of this project is to bolster connectivity with neighboring states in the northeast region, offering efficient, sustainable, and economical transportation options for all commuters.
Shri Gadkari said under the leadership of the Prime Minister we are committed to delivering top-tier highway infrastructure in the northeast region, thereby catalyzing its economic progress.
Ministry of Railways
Ministry of Railways signs an MoU with Department for International Development , United Kingdom
The MoU envisages co-operation with DFID for Energy Efficiency & Energy Self Sufficiency for Indian Railways
The effort is to reduce carbon footprint and transform Indian Railways into “Green Railways”
With a goal of transforming Indian Railways into “Green Railways”, complete electrification of Railway network has been approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs  which will reduce its carbon footprint and will also improve its finances through reduction in fuel cost.
As part of its obligations & commitment to reduce carbon footprints, Indian Railways is taking several initiatives in the field of Green Energy to achieve the same. In line with this, a Memorandum of Understanding  was signed between Ministry of Railways, Government of India and Department for International Development , United Kingdom on 2nd December, 2019 for collaboration on energy and sustainability. The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. Rajesh Tiwari, Member , Railway Board by Mr. Rajesh Kumar Jain, Executive Director/Electrical Engineering , Indian Railways and by Mr. Gavin McGillivray, Head, DFID-India.
Through Power Sector Reform  programme, the MoU with DFID envisages to include co-operation for Energy Efficiency & Energy Self Sufficiency for Indian Railways. The MoU will broadly cover:
- Energy planning for Indian Railways in line with Governments’ policies and regulations as applicable from time to time including 100% greener sources of electricity supply through
- Renewable energy planning and deployment
- Off shore wind and solar energy
- Energy storage and new energy technologies
- Off-grid renewable energy services
- Promoting energy sustainability initiatives like
- Adopting energy efficiency practices
- Enabling Fuel efficiency
- Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure deployment
- Battery operated Shunting Locomotives
- Capacity development like training programmes, industrial visits, field visits etc.
The collaboration of Indian Railways with DFID, United Kingdom will go a long way in ensuring self-sufficiency and efficiency in terms of energy and greener Indian Railways.
Ministry of Finance
Customs Department observes “Drug Destruction Day” as part of Iconic Week of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”
Mumbai Customs destroys over 2 tons of drugs worth Rs 225 cr at MIDC Taloja site
Mumbai, 8 June 2022
Indian Customs under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs  today observed "DRUG DESTRUCTION DAY" across India as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Iconic Week of Ministry of Finance.
In Mumbai, the drug destruction activity was carried out at the Mumbai Waste Management Ltd site at MIDC Taloja.
Nearly 2,040 kgs of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were destroyed during the operation. These included 1064 kg Methamphetamine, 238 Kg Mephedrone, 483 Kg Ephedrine & 204 Kg Madrax) valued at Rs 225 crores, under the watch of Shri Roopam Kapur, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone III.
Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, along with the Revenue Secretary Shri Tarun Bajaj, CBIC Chairman Shri Vivek Johri and other senior Finance Ministry officials virtually witnessed the drug destruction process at six locations, namely Guwahati, Lucknow, Mumbai. Across India 42 tons of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were destroyed at special operations carried out at 14 locations.
Shri Vivek Johri , Chairman, CBIC said due to good coordination among drug enforcement agencies, particularly DRI  with other law enforcement agencies and robust use of data analytics, the Department has been able to identify cases and book the offenders”.PIB Mumbai | SC/DR
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Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
KVIC registers the highest ever single-day sale of Rs 1.34 crore at the CP outlet, New Delhi
This year on 2nd October, CP Outlet of Khadi India has once again set a new record of Khadi sales in a single day. It is noteworthy that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has appealed on several occasions from national and international forums to buy Khadi and Village Industries products and has mentioned about promoting this sector, which was during the year 2014 at stagnation pace. After the new Government took over, there has been tremendous growth in sale of Khadi. It is also significant to mention that, since October 2016, the one-day sales at khadi India’s flagship outlet in Connaught Place, New Delhi has crossed Rs 1.00 crore marks on several occasions. This has been constantly mentioned by the Prime Minister in his radio talk "Mann ki Baat".
Prime Ministers’ message of adopting Khadi and strengthening the poor spinners and weavers financially has reached every nook and corner of the country through the radio broadcast program "Mann Ki Baat", the impact of this was seen in this Gandhi Jayanti i.e. 2nd October 2022 sale.
In a single day, the Khadi India Showroom at Connaught Place, New Delhi marked sale of Rs. 1.34 crores and broke its own previous record of Rs. 1.01 crore set on October 2, 2021. Earlier, the highest single day sale of Khadi stood at Rs 1.29 crore that was recorded on 30th October 2021.
It was for economic, cultural and social reasons and not merely political that Gandhi ji established the Khadi Movement. Taking ahead the same vision of Mahatma, our Prime Minister has endeavoured to promote the Khadi and other village Industries products among masses.
It is also the popularity of our Prime Minister and the respect of the people for him, on whose one call, people of India stand in full support to Khadi. The call of help to the poor artisans to light lamps on Diwali is substantiated in reality.
Currently Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's appeal to buy Khadi in “Mann ki Baat” on 25th September, 2022, before 2nd October, has played a great role in achieving this benchmark record sale said Chairman, KVIC.
Commenting on this, KVIC Chairman Shri Manoj Kumar attributed the increase in the sales of Khadi to the continuous backing of the Prime Minister. He said that due to the appeal of Prime Minister, a large number of people, especially the youth, have been inclined to buy Khadi.
MJPS
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